To manufacture hybrid or multi-component optical systems using traditional methods, each component part or shape may need to be manufactured from rods or blanks that are processed by cutting into various shapes using a variety of techniques, for example, lathing or milling, and subsequently assembled by joining the components, for example, by using an adhesive assembly process. This type of assembly process can be problematic, as it may cause optical distortions in the assembled system through formation of optical inhomogeneities (such as bubbles, de-adhesion and retraction, stress birefringence, schlieren, and the like) in the adhesive layers, adhesive imperfections which may cause the assembly to exhibit adhesive failure, alignment problems, and distortions detrimental to the optical performance of the system, to list several examples.
As described above, current processes for manufacturing multi-component optical systems are not commercially attractive due to high rates of adhesive failure and alignment problems that may be detrimental to optical performance. Accordingly, the increasingly stringent optical precision requirements of evolving miniature multi-component optical systems require improved manufacturing processes and devices to facilitate such improved processes.